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News 2010-11-11 A reader sends in her experience with DIVA..........
From: Sharon
Dear Joyce
Thank you
for a very informative website. I am in
the Cape and have a yorkie girl. We
decided on a yorkie last year and bought a beautiful little girl from a breeder
here. I have always visited your site,
and have contacted you before, you could not help me then with a pup. I have read your site from beginning to end
and I know you are a strong believer in selling your dogs as pets only.
Our yorkie
girl is 1.6kg in weight. The Breeder insisted we allow her one litter, she
wanted a pup from that litter. She
covered Diva for us at no charge, and she was confirmed preggy and due dates
given to me. I asked if Diva was not
possibly too small to have pups and she told me loads of her breeding bitches
were that size.
Diva was due
on a weekend and I had arranged to take leave two days before that weekend and
two days after the weekend, to make sure I was there to see to her.
Ten days before her due date, we went off to
work as usual. Diva was fine, on our return home, Diva was in a terrible state,
panting, yelping at us running up and down. One dead pup on the floor in our
room, and she had green gunk coming out of her – she was really in a terrible
state. We took her straight to the vet
who performed an emergency Caesar. She
had three other pups. Two already dead and one that was born alive but died a day
later.
The vet told
me I should not have covered her. Firstly because I was a novice and secondly
if I wanted to breed I should have bought a brood bitch. He said I was lucky
she survived the op. I was upset that
the vet was obviously displeased with me over Diva. I never wanted to breed
with her – I went back to the breeder – she also gave me a mouthful and was
also very annoyed that she now had no puppy to show from the mating.
At the time
of the Caesar the vet would not spay her, said it was too much for her to be
spayed as well. We now had her spayed. The Breeder is most annoyed with me, and
says it is as a result of me overfeeding Diva that she could not give birth
properly. She is furious that I have now spayed her and said the dog should
have been mated again and brought to her to deliver the pups.
Do you think
I did wrong by spaying her? I am so
stressed over what has happened that I do not sleep at night, worrying about
the situation that developed. Should I pay for the mating that was done for me
free of charge?
I would
appreciate your opinion on this?
Look forward
to your reply
Sharon
Knysna
Hi Sharon
I am sorry
to hear your story. I always warn people
that if you are going to breed to get the proper breeding size yorkie
female. The vet is right, being a novice
is a huge disadvantage, and breeding a dog of that weight or size in my opinion
(others may disagree) is a risk.
My girls at
that sort of weight would not be able to have a natural birth. They would have a Caesar and then you have to
consider a few other aspects. Caesars
are not cheap. My vet, as well as another I use after hours, will not do a
Caesar unless the dog is actively in labour. It is not unusual for me to take a
girl that I consider needs a Caesar to the vets three times in one day to check
if she is ready to have a Caesar or if we must still wait. So here again you have to monitor the girl
constantly to see she does not get into a situation that unfortunately, Diva experienced.
“IF” I were
to breed a girl of that weight, (not something I would normally do – but have
on occasion – I would Caesar and spay at the same time) I would have her
checked out before she was anywhere near to delivery and arrange with my vet to
do a Caesar once she started labour or showing definite signs of going into
labour. The only problem with jumping the gun, caesaring too early, your girl
may reject her pups. You then sit with a bigger problem. This has happened to me twice in many
years. The one girl had never had pups
before so had no idea what that was about. She has since had pups – no Caesar and
is a wonderful mother. The other girl was one I had bought from someone who had
abused her. I waited two years before covering her. The previous owner had bred her once and
played cat and mouse with her with her babies. Something that obviously imprinted in the dogs mind to such an extent,
that it sent her over the top. The time she
was due to have pups, one was lying across the entrance to the birth canal so
she could not give birth. She was
caesared, not stressed at all, we picked up the problem almost immediately. She
came out of the Caesar, on our way back home. I happened to open the carrier to
see she had killed three of the four babies. I took the fourth away. My vet gave me tranquilisers for her as he
said she would more than likely settle down after a day or two. I held the pup
to suckle – holding her head away, she would have killed that pup given half
the chance.
I do not
allow my dogs to battle in labour. I Caesar I do not believe I have the right
to play GOD with their lives or that of their young, or subject them to hours
and hours of severe pain.
My opinion
on your situation – you bought a dog as a pet. The Breeder asked you to mate
the dog in order that she may have a pup. If Diva had had one pup, it would have gone to the breeder and all would
have been well. If she had had a Caesar and
had one pup, the breeder would have got the pup and you would have got the vet
bill. As it stands now, you have the vet bill, the pups were actually too early
to survive. So all in all, this has been a very nasty learning curve that you
have had to deal with. It further shows that even with the pups being 10 days
early, she still could not deliver the other three naturally, so she most
definitely would not have been able to deliver them ten days down the line,
when the pups would have grown considerably more. I do believe you are worrying over nothing,
when it comes to the unhappiness of the breeder. You did what she asked and you
suffered with the results. IT is your
dog to do with as YOU please. I most certainly
would never have considered breeding her especially if I had no
experience. Any dog under 2kg is at risk
of needing a Caesar. A fair amount of my
bigger girls the proper breeding size yorkie – over a good few years, have needed
Caesars. Once a dog has had two caesars she will never be able to give birth
naturally.
Your Diva is
more than likely a solid built little female at 1.6kg. If you have a very lightweight dog weighing
the same weight, she more than likely would be able to give birth
naturally, because she will be a much bigger dog in size.
I have heard
repeatedly of the really small Yorkies being bred and they die on the
table.
You made the
right decision. Move on.
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